Wolfpack's balance fails at wrong time in Final Four power outage vs. Purdue

By AARON BEARD, AP Basketball Writer

GLENDALE, Ariz. — GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — North Carolina State's miraculous late-season run to the Atlantic Coast Conference title and an even more improbable Final Four trip had been the product of a blending of talent, balance and cohesion when the pressure peaked.

Unfortunately for the Wolfpack, it all came undone in a nightmarish second half against Purdue in the national semifinals.

The offense that had consistently produced double-figure scorers to support DJ Burns Jr. inside and DJ Horne on the perimeter just never got into a shot-making flow. Layups rolled off the rim. Outside shots clanged away harmlessly. And outside of Horne, no one found anything approaching a rhythm.

It ended with the Wolfpack shooting just 28.6% while scoring 21 second-half points to fall to the Boilermakers 63-50 on Saturday night.

Horne finished with 20 points but needed 21 shots to get there. No other Wolfpack player reached double figures until Jayden Taylor's 3-pointer with 42 seconds left and N.C. State trailing by 16.

By that point, it was clear the Wolfpack's first Final Four appearance since 1983 would not lead to a repeat of the surprise run to the national championship by the “Cardiac Pack.”

The 6-foot-9, 275-pound Burns struggled all night between fouls and battling the length of 7-foot-4 two-time national player of the year Zach Edey. After becoming a March Madness star and scoring 29 points in a regional final against Duke, Burns had just eight points on 4-for-10 shooting while pulling down just one rebound and battling some foul issues.

Worse, Michael O'Connell — the steady Stanford transfer who had been a critical piece in the run with his 3-point shooting — came up grabbing his left hamstring after taking a first-half tumble. He spent long stretches riding an exercise bike trying to loosen it up at the end of the bench, then checked in for one 3 1/2-minute stretch after halftime — his left thigh heavily wrapped — and took just one shot (a made 3) all night.

It was a sign of how things were out of sync for N.C. State, who also saw starting wing Casey Morsell go scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting after averaging 11.5 points coming in.

By the end of the night, Taylor was firing a meaningless 3-pointer on the final possession as the seconds ticked away. The ball hit long, sealing the worst scoring game of the season for N.C. State.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness